For some people, the idea of making their own breakfast seems either difficult, time consuming or expensive. The good news is that those are all false assumptions. Suite101.com is all about making your life easier, healthier and less expensive, and this muffin recipe is guaranteed tasty, foolproof and versatile.
Why Make Your Own Muffins?
The fat to fibre ratio in most fast food muffins is extraordinarily high. Most use high concentrations of sugar, or HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup), which is both addictive as well as unhealthy. It has been banned in several countries, as being a substance linked to obesity and type 1 diabetes.
The Mayo Clinic states that there are insufficient studies that conclude that HFCS is any worse than refined sugar or other sweeteners. However, they do suggest reducing, if not eliminating excess sugar in your diet, while increasing your fibre intake.
Fat Comparisons for Take Out Muffins
A glance at Tim Horton’s Nutrition Calculator shows that the muffin with the most fat is also the muffin that maintains the urban legend as being the healthiest: The Raisin Bran Muffin. With a total count of 720 calories and a saturated fat count of 20g per serving, this breakfast treat is best left on the shelf. McDonald’s bran muffins are not any healthier either, according to their nutritional information.
Making your own muffins by using whole-wheat flour, and replacing oil, margarine or other fats with unsweetened applesauce are ways of beating heart disease and obesity. A “good” muffin is one with a higher fibre content that fat content, and has little added sugar.
Homemade Muffins are Cheaper
Another motivator is that buying even one muffin a week costs more than making your own. One batch uses only two cups of flour, and if you buy flour in bulk or large sizes, the cost is further reduced. This homemade batch of muffins costs roughly 25 cents each, including electricity, while each muffin can cost over dollar if store bought.
Easy, Cheap and Delicious Muffin Recipe
You don’t have to be an ace in the kitchen to pull off these muffins. The basic recipe is so versatile; you can pick and choose whatever berry, fruit, or chopped nuts you want to add. This recipe yields roughly ten regular sized muffins.
- 2 cups of whole-wheat flour (or unbleached white)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon fine pour sea salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 cup pure maple syrup or agave nectar
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 2/3 cup chopped fruit, nuts, or berries of your choice (chocolate chips work well, too.)
- Preheat oven to 375 F. (If using silicone muffin cups like Silpat, heat oven to 350)
- Mix dry ingredients together, add water, syrup and applesauce.
- Stir together until all the lumps are gone, and then add your berries and/or nuts.
- Bake in oven for 25 minutes (20 minutes if its in a silicone or Silpat muffin tin.)
- If you’re really hard-core for sugar in the morning, you can melt some chocolate chips in your microwave and drizzle the muffins with the liquefied chocolate, once the muffins are out of the oven.
Try this recipe yourself, and take one out before going to work: You’ll have a hot treat to make your morning a little easier to bear.
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